Re: Lou Dobbs morphs into Bill O'Reilly?

["Sean Smyth" <ssmyth@suscom.net>]

Dan Billings writes:
> It probably has something to do with CNN getting beat in the evening
ratings
> week after week.
>
> There new plan is new with Paula Zahn from 7 to 9 each evening.  They have
> kicked Cross Fire back to 4:30.  It does making sense ofr a news network
to
> actually have a news show on during prime time, but if the idea is to
> improve the ratings, I can't see this working.

I understand the new CNN strategy, but I am referring specifically to Dobbs'
sudden move from (what I thought was) objective journalist to card-carrying
conversative. We're not even talking gradual epiphany; it's almost as if
once the bombs started falling on Baghdad, "Moneyline" became a high-tech
glitzy version of the weekly GOP national cable-access television show.
("GOP Live," maybe?) Again, Lou was brought back to CNN because everyone
considered him THE financial guru. If they needed an American cheerleader in
that spot, they should have put his show on temporary hiatus and brought him
back after the war.

I do like CNN's new strategy of actually emphasizing (gasp) news and like
the idea of putting Paula Zahn in prime-time. She is a credible anchor who
has enough star power but not too much to overshadow the rest of the
production. (She had a really good interview with GE's Jack Welch last
night.) In my opinion, they can get rid of "Crossfire" at this point. They
turned the show into a semi-circus once they moved it in front of a live
studio audience. Part of the charm of "Crossfire" was having four guys in a
room talking politics who weren't necessaril y grandstanding for some
college kids in the cheap seats.